Key Takeaways
- The NHS is facing a significant backlog in care, with 6.2 million individuals waiting for treatment, and chronic wound management is a critical pressure point.
- Chronic wounds affect 3.8 million patients annually, with a growing rate of 12% per year, and cost the NHS around £8.3bn ($11.1bn) per year.
- Non-invasive medical devices, such as wearable neuromuscular electrical stimulators (NMES), can help improve wound healing and reduce the burden on the NHS.
- These devices can increase blood flow, support tissue repair, and accelerate recovery, ultimately reducing the need for hospital-based care and freeing up clinician time.
- The use of modern wound care technologies can help revolutionize the way the NHS treats patients, improving patient outcomes and reducing costs.
Introduction to the NHS Backlog
The UK National Health Service (NHS) is currently facing an unprecedented backlog in care across all units in primary and secondary care. As of September 2025, 6.2 million individuals were stuck on the waiting list expecting treatments, with 2.8 million of those waiting over 18 weeks. This is a serious issue that needs to be tackled to support patients in getting the care they deserve. One major problem that the NHS currently faces is chronic wound management, which has emerged as a critical pressure point. Conditions such as venous leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers are not only painful and impairing for patients but are also resource-intensive when not treated effectively.
The Scale of the Wound Care Backlog
The NHS currently manages around 3.8 million patients annually with chronic wounds, a figure that is growing by 12% every year. This spotlights the pressure point the NHS is currently facing, with chronic wounds often leaving patients housebound for long periods of time and often requiring increased clinic or hospital visits and stays. This results in a patient group that creates a huge financial burden for the NHS. The annual cost for wound management is estimated to be around £8.3bn ($11.1bn) per year and is only likely to rise should healthcare providers not find wound care pathways that can speed up time to recovery.
Limitations in Current Wound Care
Due to high workloads, current wound care delivery is often reactive rather than preventive. Particularly, in wounds that are slow to heal – with referral to specialists also not always happening soon enough. Limited early intervention, along with poor patient compliance to standard of care, can lead to wound deterioration, resulting in the need for hospital-based care, which can require resource-intensive treatments that could have been avoided with earlier, more proactive support in the community. In the home and clinic settings, traditional wound care pathways typically involve a sequence of steps such as wound cleaning, dressing changes, and compression therapy. While these methods are clinically validated and can deliver results, they do not always address the root-cause of worsening wounds, which is poor circulation.
The Role of Non-Invasive Medical Devices in Wound Care
Using a non-invasive medical device that allows patients to manage their own care, or share care with others, is key to better outcomes for chronic wound patients and supporting healthcare providers. The technology can help patients receive treatments that suit the nature and history of their wounds, with specialists freed up to help achieve operational efficiency. In doing so, this helps patients regain their lives and reduces strain on wound care clinics, hospitals and their staff. A non-invasive wearable neuromuscular electrical stimulator (NMES) can increase blood flow and support the body’s natural healing mechanisms. Applied just below the knee, an NMES device delivers a gentle electrical pulse to a specific nerve, activating the calf and foot muscle pumps.
Benefits for Patients and the NHS System
When patients and healthcare systems benefit from medical technology, such as an NMES device, the outlook for both improves significantly. The technology can be used without specialist application, helping reduce the chronic wound care burden, optimise specific wound care, and saving NHS costs. In numerous ways, this supports the NHS to achieve its core value: offering more effective recoveries for their patients. Traditional pathways can struggle to pre-empt wounds worsening, limiting opportunities for early intervention and healing. This can result in prolonged treatment pathways, poor patient compliance, and hospital admissions. Regional variations in care can further complicate outcomes, creating inconsistent treatment responses, increasing the burden on primary and secondary care.
Conclusion and Future Directions
The use of modern wound care technologies, including a wearable NMES solution, can help revolutionize the way the NHS treats patients, freeing up capacity in primary and secondary care for better patient outcomes. By increasing blood flow, supporting tissue repair, and accelerating recovery, these devices can ultimately reduce the need for hospital-based care and free up clinician time. As the NHS works to keep up with growing patient requirements, there remains recognition that traditional wound care pathways could be better supported to improve healing outcomes for patients. The integration of non-invasive medical devices into wound care pathways can help address the critical pressure point of chronic wound management, reducing the burden on the NHS and improving patient outcomes.